Saint Bernard's Vision of the Virgin

Saint Bernard's Vision of the Virgin, painted in 1447 and now at the National Gallery, London, depicts the mystical encounter in which the Virgin appeared to the Cistercian saint. Lippi painted this during his middle period in Florence, when his graceful Madonnas and refined technique had established him as the successor to Fra Angelico as the city's preeminent religious painter. Characteristic of Lippi's approach, the work displays elegant linear grace, tender humanity, lyrical Madonna types, decorative refinement.

The visionary scene is rendered with Lippi's characteristic delicacy, soft light modeling the Virgin's face while Bernard's expression of rapt devotion demonstrates the painter's gift for psychological nuance.